Best Friends Can Not Be Trusted
by aaquater
Summary: Songfic. A view on the battle in the Throne room from Luke's POV. Did he regret what he'd done at the end?


_When I heard this song, Luke was the first person that came to my mind, and I just knew that I had to make a story about him with the song in it, so here it is. I hope that Luke isn't too OOC; I've wondered a lot about how to write his thoughts and motives._

_Warning: Contents might me contaminated by grammar mistakes, because I'm not a native speaker._

_I own nothing except Mitchell._

_Song: Simple Plan - Thank You_

* * *

"Deserve better," Ethan gasped, pain obvious in his voice. "If they just . . . had thrones-"

Kronos slammed his foot to the ground and the floor cracked. I only watched in horror as Ethan fell through the hole, right down to Manhattan. "NO!" I wanted to yell, but I couldn't. He was getting too powerful; I had no control over my body anymore. I felt like I was watching a video, like I was just a spectator watching my life from my point of view.

Honestly, I just wanted to cry there and then. Ethan was the one who understood me the most, who shared views similar to mine. The others were just taken by Kronos' manipulating speeches; he blindfolded them, made them think things they wouldn't have thought on their own.

"So much for him," Kronos said. I hated the fact that he said it through me. I hated it; I would have never said it. Not about Ethan. Not about any other demigod, even the ones fighting on the gods' side. I didn't want a full-fledged war like this.

What did I want, then? To be honest, I couldn't be sure. Three years ago, when Kronos started talking to me, he kept hitting all of my sore spots. Did I believe he'd be a better ruler than Zeus? Maybe. But did I want him to truly be the one in charge? No. What I really wanted was to shake the gods a bit, or more, so they would actually start caring about their kids. Okay, they were gods, but that didn't mean they couldn't take the blame for their actions. Young demigods were popping up everywhere, getting attacked, sometimes even killed by monsters. And the gods? They didn't care about them – us. But when they needed something, we had to obey without a word. Whenever the gods fought, everyone else had to bear with the consequences. Everyone but the ones who'd originally created the mess.

I had enough. My intentions were to open the gods' eyes a bit – to make them see that there were other beings that mattered, not just them. To make them appreciate their kids – after all, they were the ones who gave this life to us. We weren't just their slaves, created because they wanted to have a bit of pleasure. We were their kids, and I wanted them to be aware of it.

"And now for the rest of you," Kronos said. I looked at who remained in the throne room. There was Annabeth, sitting on the floor. I could tell she was hurt, both physically and emotionally. Despite her being my enemy, I still wanted to get there and comfort her. I still saw a seven-year-old scared girl, desperate to find someone who would treat her like family. Fortunately; Grover was there by her side, looking after her.

As I stood there, wishing I could stop this madness, a horrible thought entered my brain. What if Kronos made me kill Annabeth? I would hate myself for the rest of my life, if that was to happen.

You might wonder why I should care; after all, I had no problem almost killing Percy numerous times before. One of the reasons was that to me, she was like my little sister, even more so than my real half-sisters from the Hermes cabin. I'd known before that she was hurt when I made the decision to be on Kronos' side, but I'd just waved it away, like a minor problem; just like I did with every other problem that showed up.

The other reason was that I've grown up. I was not so blindfolded anymore. In the past, when Kronos was only speaking to me, he'd managed to convince me that every sacrifice would be worth it. Now, I didn't think so anymore. When I looked at the impacts the war had, and realized that it was all started by me, I would've even taken Zeus as a ruler and everything like it used to be, if it meant that demigods wouldn't fight each other – enemies that should've been friends.

I thought about my dad. He, and the condition my mom was in, had made me think the way I did. Just because I couldn't see how much I had, and I wanted more. He didn't visit us often? Most of us (demigods) have never met their immortal parents except for the trips to Olympus during the solstices. He let my mom in her state? He couldn't have done anything to prevent it, or later to heal it. He ignored me? It was me who he'd chosen for the quest, from all his children. Me. But I was too proud, too blind, and maybe too spoiled to see it.

That's when I heard music in my ears. For a second, I wondered if I was going insane – after all, there was no speaker or anything in the Throne room, and Apollo was too busy fighting Typhon to go here and start a party.

While Kronos forced my body to battle with Percy, breaking the roots that were much too week yet to stop him, I listened to the song. Yeah; not the best thing to do in the middle of a battle, but it wasn't like I could do much more than just watch Percy kick hot coals at me in a desperate attempt to distract Kronos from his sword.

When Kronos announced that he'll make a new hearth from Poseidon's throne, since the old one was just destroyed, the singer started singing in my head. I'd heard the song before, because Mitchell, a son of Janus who fought on my side, used to listen to this band in every possible moment. I wouldn't be surprised even if he came to this battle with his headphones on. But that was not the point. The point was that the singer was a guy, but in my version, it was a girl's voice that I heard. A voice so familiar, it made me shiver. It sounded just like Annabeth did about four – five years ago, when she was still my friend.

_I thought that I could always count on you,  
I thought that nothing could come between us two.  
We said as long as we would stick together,  
We'd be alright, we'd be ok.  
But I was stupid and you broke me down,  
I'll never be the same again._

I wanted just to put my head in my hands; this hurt more than if she stabbed me. Yeah; in Annabeth's point of view, that was really accurate. I should've been the one she could count on; I should've protected her like the big brother I'd promised I would be. But no; what did I do instead? I turned my back on her and tried to destroy the world she lived in. Some big brother I am, all right.

Percy and Kronos still fought. Somehow; Percy managed to slash his sword across my chest, cutting the Celestial Bronze. He didn't hurt me in the slightest though; thanks to my bath in the Styx, I was invincible except for one spot, and that was in my armpit. However, he was managing to exhaust Kronos. If he was exhausted enough, maybe I could gain control for a while.

Kronos stomped my foot and slowed the time to have a timeout. Everyone almost stopped. Percy was running towards me, but it looked like in a movie in a 1/8 watching speed. Just opening her mouth to accept a bit of ambrosia took Annabeth at least fifteen seconds. Only I was still moving at normal speed, trying to catch my breath that Percy's hit had set off.

_So thank you for showing me  
That best friends cannot be trusted,  
And thank you for lying to me,  
Your friendship and good times we had, you can have them back!_

Honestly; I would've rather got ran over by a truck than heard the chorus sung by Annabeth. This hurt even more than the first verse. 'Best friends cannot be trusted.' It was me. I used to be Annabeth's best friend, and I let her down. The good times we had; I doubted she knew it – how could she – but it was what I'd seen in the Underworld. When I was in the river, I saw Thalia, Annabeth and myself playing tug of war; me on one end of the rope and the girls at the other one. At the end, they'd won and I surfaced, back to the world where I was against them.

"It's too late, Percy Jackson. Behold," Kronos said, pointing at the ruins of the hearth.

White smoke appeared, forming images of the battle. I saw Hades amongst the battling demigods and monsters, and I inwardly cheered on him as he was summoning undead warriors to help the Olympians' army. That was the good news.

Of course, there were also some bad news. The first was that Morpheus' charm stopped working, which meant that mortals were fully awake and, seeing the chaos around them, they were panicking.

The other bad news was even worse. Typhon was already in New York – an enormous, tornado-like storm destroying everything in its path. The Gods' chariots were circling him, but they couldn't do anything. They weren't able to stop him when they were 10 against him, so at 8 they were even more helpless.

Then, I had seen Typhon for the first time, and I wished I didn't. He had two arms and two legs like a human, but other than that, he resembled Shrek more than a human – at least according to his skin color. His legs reminded me of a crocodile, and his hands wore talons that some girls would be jealous of. Well, if they weren't so damaged, of course.

His head… I can't describe it, because it was always changing. It was giving me a headache.

_I wonder why it always has to hurt,  
For every lesson that you have to learn.  
I won't forget what you did to me,  
How you showed me things, I wish I'd never seen.  
But I was stupid, and you broke me down,  
I'll never be the same again._

I gasped. That was… Thalia singing! I had no idea she could sing so well. But, to be honest, I've never heard her sing before.

To hear those words sung in Thalia's voice felt like someone stabbed me in the heart with a poker. I could picture her, glaring at me and saying those words. 'I won't forget what you did to me.' How could she? And why should she? There's no room for forgiveness in this. I'd poisoned her and counted on the others to heal her in time, simple as that. And yeah, she'd probably learned her lesson not to trust me, because I had broken her down. After all, I'm the 'best friend who cannot be trusted,' right?

Kronos commented on the Gods' effort. The worst part was that he was, in fact, right. It was pathetic, the way that they couldn't hurt or at least slow Typhon down. He was hurtling through the city like a panzer, leaving a route of destruction behind him.

_So thank you for showing me  
That best friends cannot be trusted,  
And thank you for lying to me,  
Your friendship and good times we had, you can have them back!_

Typhon began to cross the Hudson River. With how big he was, he had the water only below his knees. Then, I realized that once he got here, everyone would die; maybe except for me and Percy. Annabeth and Grover couldn't survive the fall. Everyone on the ground would be buried under the ruins from fallen buildings. There would be a next age, all right, but there won't be anyone who'll know about it, because everyone who knew about the gods and titans still being alive would die. 'Please,' I thought, 'someone stop him.'

Just then, I heard a real sound, not one inside my head. I knew the sound very well; I'd been hearing it for years.

'Dinner!' I thought before mentally slapping myself. 'Yeah right, Luke, _of course_ this is the call for dinner; right now in the middle of a battle!' It was morning anyway.

But I was right with one thing. It was a conch shell, just like in camp. However, now it didn't mean that it was time for eating. It was the signal of Poseidon's army.

I felt like cheering. It looked like Poseidon either won in his own was against Oceanos, or he decided to sacrifice his own kingdom for the good of Olympus. If it was the latter, I'd start respecting him. Pretty late, eh? Regardless to the result of this war, I won't live till tomorrow.

The Hudson River around Typhon exploded and the Sea God's chariot pulled by hippocampi shot out of the water. The god himself was surrounded by a blue aura, kind of like a shield from some video games. He swung his trident (Because of this, I used to call him The Farmer God. It reminded me of a hayfork. But don't say him this! Or… well, it wouldn't matter anymore.) and the river made… well, a cloud around the storm.

"No! NO!" Kronos yelled. I would've said otherwise.

"Now, my brethren! Strike for Olympus!" Poseidon hollered. An army of Cyclopes riding all kinds of sea creatures came to my sight. The leader of the group looked somewhat familiar to me…

"Tyson!" I heard Percy yell.

Of course! It was the same Cyclops that Percy had travelled with in the Sea of Monsters. But then, he was only a small kid; now he was as big as an adult Cyclops. Poseidon probably helped him.

Then, I realized that there were too many arms for that number of Cyclopes. That's when I saw a Hundred-Handed One; the same I'd had Kampe keeping in Alcatraz and who had been rescued – once again, by Percy, Annabeth, Grover and Tyson. Whenever something like that happened, this lot was in the center of it, along with Thalia.

_When the tables turn again,  
You'll remember me my friend,  
You'll be wishing I was there for you.  
I'll be the one you'll miss the most,  
But you'll only find my ghost.  
As time goes by,  
You'll wonder why,  
You're all alone._

And this… this was sung by Grover! Surprisingly, he had quite good singing voice, despite his strong goat-y accent.

Oh, Grover. I'd blamed him for Thalia's death along with everyone else except me for so long. There were so many What if-s. If Hades didn't send so many monsters… if Zeus helped her more than turning her into a tree… if I didn't have to carry Annabeth up the hill, because she was too young and too tired… if Grover didn't lead us towards that Cyclops… but most importantly, and I'd always ignored this; if I didn't feel the need to prove myself by battling every single monster there was. Who had I wanted to prove to anyway? I had no idea.

The Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed One all held long chains that had hooks at their ends. They threw them all on Typhon and began circling around him. Obviously, Typhon tried to shake them down, but you try to lift several hundred Cyclopes; even if you're tall as a skyscraper. They eventually weighed him down like a very heavy backpack.

Then, Poseidon's moment came. He threw his trident at Typhon's throat like a javelin and it hit the bull's eye. The trident returned back to its owner, creating an ichor fountain that went way above the top of the Empire State Building; the mortal part, anyway.

This made the other gods attacking Typhon with greater force until, eventually, he sank into the water. Of course, he didn't like it so he made waves that probably made some mortals living on the fifth or sixth floor think that there was tsunami. But that was as much as he could do until he, thankfully, begun sliding down a special slide that, unlike normal slides, hopefully ended in Tartarus, not in some swimming pool on the other side of the Earth.

Kronos screamed in frustration and anger, venting his feelings on the poor image, chopping it into pieces with his – MY – sword. Anger management classes, anyone? I think all of the immortals, except maybe Hestia, could do with some.

"They're on their way. You've lost," Percy taunted the Titan of Time, a hopeful and half-happy expression on his face.

"I haven't even started," Kronos replied. I could sense his fury reaching the limit and I cursed. He was about to attack left and right, like a blind and crazy person. Well, he was already crazy and I'd prefer him not going blind, so… yeah.

Kronos made a move towards Percy, but Grover jumped in front of him. I cursed even more violently as I watched my hands throwing Grover away like I was hitting a homerun.

Percy tried to shish-kebab me once more, but once again he wasn't aiming for my mortal spot. Even worse; Kronos caught Percy's sword with mine and managed to disarm him. Percy's sword went flying away, falling through the hole; just like Ethan did a while ago. Momentarily, as I stared into Percy's shocked and defeated face, I was reminded of our very first fight, back when we weren't enemies, when Annabeth still liked me like… I don't really know what she'd felt for me then, but that wasn't important. This was the first move that I'd taught Percy, and I hoped it wouldn't be the last move that would be used against him. And somehow, I knew that Percy was thinking the same.

_So thank you for showing me  
That best friends cannot be trusted,  
And thank you for lying to me,  
Your friendship and good times we had, you can have them back!_

"STOP!" Annabeth yelled, jumping into the fight. I wanted to stop her, to move her and the others to some safe place, but I couldn't, so I desperately tried to do the only thing I could – struggle against Kronos, at least to make him uncomfortable enough to make a mistake.

Kronos slashed with his sword, almost cutting Annabeth into two uneven halves. Thank the gods for Annabeth's reflexes! She managed to catch the slash on the dagger hilt, and once again I was thankful for her years of training. I don't think I could find three other people in the world that would've stopped this strike.

Annabeth and Kronos stood still, facing against each other, their weapons clashed, waiting for the other to show some weakness or signs of exhaustion. At the moment, I really admired Annabeth. I knew that her shoulder was hurt from where Ethan had stabbed her, but despite that, she was still fighting, refusing to give up.

"Luke, I understand now. You have to trust me," Annabeth gritted out, maybe a bit more harshly than she normally would, but then again did I deserve any better? No. I should be (and I was) happy that she was still willing to speak to me; addressing to me as Luke, not Kronos.

'I do trust you,' I thought. 'I've always trusted you. And now, I trust you to end this madness before it's too late. If it isn't already too late.'

Of course, this did nothing to improve the occupant of my body's mood. "Luke Castellan is dead! His body will burn away as I assume my true form!"

Not to be selfish, but I was honestly hoping that this won't happen. Screw my survival, I probably die anyway; but with Kronos in his true form, it would be the end of everything.

Kronos pushed his sword harder against Annabeth's knife. She was trembling from the effort she had to make to prevent her neck from getting split in two by my sword. Yeah, _my_ sword. I officially hated this fact.

"Your mother; she saw your fate," Annabeth said, ignoring Kronos and speaking to me. I wished I could give her a sign that I was listening.

"Service to Kronos, this is my fate!" Kronos shouted. 'Sure… for a Lord of Time, aren't you a little bit behind the times? I've been thinking that like two years ago. And don't speak for me!'

But Annabeth wasn't about to give up. "No1 That's not the end, Luke. The prophecy: she saw what you would do. It applies to you!" she cried desperately, tears appearing in her eyes.

I have to say that I've had my suspicions about the prophecy for a while. A sixteen-year-old hero of the oldest gods? That was definitely Percy. But what if the prophecy was about more than one person? What good would Percy's death do? Why would he need to sacrifice himself for the greater good? He wouldn't. Me, on the other hand…

Yeah, call me suicidal, but I honestly didn't care. If I could, I would take over my body, if only for a minute to end this once and for ever.

And the cursed blade? That was the thing I thought about the most. It could be the scythe, of course, and it's probably what everyone thinks of the first. But the scythe, although it would be more useful when used on a field to cut down ripe grain, wasn't cursed. Not really. Yeah, there was this whole unpleasant soul-ripping business, but when I thought about it, it just felt… wrong somehow. Like this wasn't the right answer.

No. If you betray someone, it's a far worse curse, and I betrayed… well… everyone, but the one thing with a blade that I ever gave to someone I betrayed with my actions was Annabeth's knife. This was the cursed blade, because it was a reminder of a broken promise. But how to get it…

"I will crush you, child," Kronos shouted.

'Like hell you will, you ancient wristwatch,' I hissed.

Meanwhile, Grover and Percy were once again frozen in time. I saw them watching Annabeth with worried eyes, and I felt for them. After all, I was worried about her, too. I knew best what Kronos is capable of, and I didn't want any of these things happening to my little sister.

"You won't," Annabeth disagreed. "You promised. You're holding Kronos back even now."

"LIES!" Kronos bellowed. Annabeth stumbled backward. Using this in his advantage, Kronos slapped her forcefully.

Should I say anything? Okay, I will. There and then, I wanted to kill myself. Not because it would, hopefully, end the war. No; it was because it was my hand that hit Annabeth; it was my hand that made blood appear in the side of her mouth; it was my hand that caused the fact that her arm was broken. It was me who did this, and I truly despised myself for it.

Kronos made me come to Annabeth and raise my sword. If it was up to me, I'd throw it away and feed her ambrosia until she was healthier than the Stolls. (They were never ill!) Unfortunately, I couldn't. I only tried once again to get control over my body, but with no effect. He was getting too powerful.

"Family, Luke. You promised," Annabeth croaked.

_So thank you, for lying to me,  
So thank you, for all the times you let me down,  
So thank you, for lying to me,  
So thank you, your friendship, you can have it back!_

These last few words were sung by not only Annabeth, Thalia and Grover, but Percy as well. The four people I probably hurt the most. I hurt them, and I had to make it up; at least as much as I could. It wasn't possible to take it all back and stop me from becoming what I was, but it was possible to fulfill the prophecy so the world would be saved.

I took a deep breath (figuratively) and prepared myself for the one big attack on Kronos' presence in my head. It wasn't easy, he wasn't just going to give up, but it was my body, and I was ready to fight for it. I was… bound to fight for it.

If you haven't been possessed by anyone yet, you can't know what it's like to have someone in your head. It's like there's an adviser in your brain that whispers to your nerves what to do. You can have your thoughts, but your body does something else. The adviser says, 'go right,' and you go right, even if you want to go left. Often, he's so strong he could convince you that going right is… well, right, and going well is stupid. It's frustrating, really. Even more so that he controls absolutely everything, even my breathing and… other things that are quite embarrassing to talk about. At least, Kronos cares so much about his appearance that he didn't allow himself to have an accident.

What can I say about the next fight? It was a short, furious battle about the control over my body. It was a battle that I'd fought many, many times before, and most times, I lost. However, this time, I won, kicking Kronos out of my head. It was the sheer power of my will and my motivation, I think, that was the key concept. Looking back, it also decided the outcome of the war, but I guess I'm skipping things a bit.

Since I won, Percy and Grover were able to move again. The moment was quite comical, but I barely noticed it. When I got over the shock and joy of controlling my lungs once more, I only wanted to get to Annabeth.

"Promise. Annabeth… You're bleeding…" I croaked, moving towards Annabeth like a zombie. Truth be told, I also felt like one. I honestly almost forgot how to move my body.

"My knife. Percy, please…" Annabeth gasped. She tried to hand him her dagger, but she wasn't strong enough even for this. The weapon slipped out of her grip and made a clang when it fell to the ground.

Percy jumped forward and grabbed Annabeth's dagger. Then, he kicked my sword out of my hand, which I was only thankful for. It wasn't the weapon from the prophecy anyway, and as I didn't know how long would I hold Kronos back, it was for the best that I was weaponless.

"Don't touch her," Percy said forcefully, stepping between Annabeth and I.

I know that now's not the time, and I really don't want to sound like Aphrodite, but when in the name of gods are they going to realize they're totally into each other? Thanks to – wince – Silena, I'd always been updated about this, and if they haven't been keeping their relationship secret and waiting for the right moment to spill the beans, I tell the both of them to use glasses. I mean, even demigods who fight for Kronos have started betting on them, and they haven't even met either of them, that's how obvious they were.

"Jackson," Kronos growled, using my moment of not focusing.

I forcefully got him out of my head again, and then, I felt it. A horrible pain that felt like I was exploding from inside. It was even more painful than my swim in the Styx. Maybe that's exactly how one feels when overdosed on ambrosia.

I tried to beg for help, to warn them that they don't have time to spare, but Kronos cut me off. I just hoped that they got the message I was trying to pass.

Kronos turned around towards the destroyed hearth, where Percy kicked it into. 'Please, melt,' I prayed, even though I knew it was hopeless. The sword was there for far too little time, and I doubted the coals were hot enough to melt the metal.

When Kronos touched the sword, he roared in pain, like it really hurt him, even though it shouldn't. The fire, despite the hearth being destroyed, had grown and Hestia's image appeared in it, glaring at me… Kronos… us both really. Just what we deserve.

This weakened Kronos enough that I could break into my mind pretty easily. (That sounded so weird…) It took all I had not to cry out from the pain when I felt the impact Hestia's fire had on my hands, but somehow, I managed.

I fell down on my knees, unable to stand, but just before my legs gave out turned so I was facing Percy. He was advancing towards me with Annabeth's knife, about to kill me.

"Please, Percy, you can't… can't do it yourself. He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can… can keep him controlled," I explained, struggling to breathe.

Kronos, it seemed, gave up in controlling my mind. Instead, he was trying to change into his true form even faster. On one hand, it would make the ending easier. On the other hand, we had less than a minute for it.

My skin started to smoke. I was bloating from the inside. I've seen a documentary somewhere about an insect or something, whose young only vacate their mother's body when they have no space in there, and they go through the skin. I felt like that at the moment, except for the fact that it was my great-grandpa that was inside.

Percy hesitated. He looked at Annabeth and Grover, obviously thinking if he should trust me. Yeah, I haven't given him many reasons why he should, but for the good of everything, it was necessary for him to hand Annabeth's knife to me.

"Please, no time," I groaned. 'Please, Percy, trust me this one time.'

I saw realization in Percy's eyes. He looked at me, at the dagger, again at me and he handed me the knife, pushing me with his eyes. Like he wasn't the one wasting time ten seconds ago.

I heard Grover yell something, but I wasn't concentrating on it. As quickly as I could, I undid the straps connecting my left besagew* from the rest of my armor, exposing my armpit.

For a second, I thought about the song. About Annabeth; my little sister I walked out on. About Grover, who I blamed to cover up my own faults. About Thalia, who wasn't up there, and it worried me; I hoped she was somewhere down there, still fighting and scaring everyone with that shield of hers. About Percy, who I used to hate for not seeing what I saw, and who I now admired for seeing much, much more than I did.

'This is for all of you,' I thought, 'For everyone who thought that I was the best friend that could not be trusted.' I raised the dagger, twisted both of my arms (there are more comfortable types of clothing than armor) and with just a little stab, pierced the skin in my armpit, right in my mortal spot. I did not create a big wound, but hopefully, I just ended a much bigger wound in the history of Olympus - the Titan War #2.

* * *

_* According to Wikipedia, besagew is a part of armor that covers the armpit._


End file.
